During the six months it took for the restaurant to be rebuilt, Kroll’s 40 employees -- many of whom had worked there for years -- faced the uncertainty of not having a paycheck.

Instead, Kroll decided to keep paying the employees while the restaurant was rebuilt. Over six months, he spent $144,000 out of his own pocket.

“To me not only was it the right thing to do, it made business sense to do it,” Kroll told WISC of Madison, Wisconsin.

He asked only that the employees use the time to volunteer in the community.

“It is just a building, but Culver’s of Platteville is much more than that. It is the people and not the building and we didn't lose the people so why should we allow the fire to cause that to happen?” Kroll asked.

Now the restaurant has reopened, but Kroll did face a scare: They reopened their doors on June 16th, and that night a tornado came within 20 yards of the restaurant. It didn't do any damage but there was a lot of debris to clean up.